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James Harry "Ginger" Lacey - Pilot Profile - James Lacey

No Photo Available

Victories : 28
-----------------------------
Country : UK
Fought in : WW2
Fought for : Allied
Died : 30th May 1989


Awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal
Distinguished
Flying Medal

James Harry Lacey, from Wetherby, who was destined to become the top scoring RAF fighter pilot in the Battle of Britain, joined the RAFVR. in 1937. After an instructors course in 1938 he became an instructor at the Yorkshire Aeroplane Club. Called up at the outbreak of war, he was posted to 501 Squadron, and in May 1940 was posted with the unit to France. On the 13th he set off late on an early patrol, and shot down a Bf 109 and a He 111. Later in the day he destroyed a Bf 110. On the 27th he destroyed two He 11 Is and then returned to the United Kingdom, in June, having made an emergency landing in a swamp on the 9th and overturned, nearly being drowned. On 20 July he shot down a 13f 109, and was then awarded a DFM. In the Battle of Britain, during August, he destroyed a Ju 87 and a probable on the 12th, damaged a Do 17 on the 15th, probably destroyed a Bf 109 on the 16th, and on the 24th shot down a Ju 88 and damaged a Do 17. On the 29th he destroyed a 13f 109 and next day claimed a He 111 and probablya Bf110. He shot down a Bf109 on the 31st and on 2 September got two Bf 109s and damaged a Do 17. Two days later he destroyed two more Bf 109s, and was then sent on leave for a few days. on his return, on the 13th, he took off in very bad weather to shoot down a lone He 111 which had just bombed Buckingham Palace. Having destroyed it, he found the cloud too thick to return to base and was forced to bale out. On the 15th he shot down another He 111 and two Bf 109s with a third damaged, on the 27th destroyed another Bf 109 and on the 30th damaged a Ju 88. During October he was in action frequently against Bf 109s, getting a probable on the 7th and destroying others on the 12th, 26th, and the 30th, damaging one also on this latter date. His score was now 23, and he had been shot down or forced to bale out nine times. Of his victories 18 were gained during the Battle of Britain, and this was the highest score of any pilot for this period. In December he received a Bar to his DFM and was commissioned the following month. He converted to Spitfires early in 1941, and in June became a flight commander. During July he destroyed a Bf 109 on the 10th, damaged one on the 14th, shot down a He 59 floatplane on the 17th and destroyed two more Bf 109s on the 24th, causing them to collide. He was then posted as an instructor to 57 OTU where he trained, among others, George Beurling. In March 1942 he was posted to 602 Squadron, and on 24th March damaged a Fw 190. On 25 April he damaged two more, but was then posted to HQ 81 Group as Tactics Officer, now as a Sqn. Ldr. He spent some while testing Hurricanes with rocket projectiles and 40 mm. anti-tank guns, and then became Chief Flying Instructor at Millfield. In March 1943 he was sent to India, and first was responsible for converting squadrons to Hurricanes at Madras. He then moved to Bangalore, where he converted Hurricane pilots to Thunderbolts. In September 1944 he was posted to 3 TAC at Komila as Sqn. Ldr. Tactics, and the following month attended an Air Fighting Instructors Course at Armarda Road, which was run by Wg. Cdr. F.R. Carey. In November he became temporary commanding officer of 155 Squadron, flying Spitfire 8s in Burma, but later that month took command of 17 Squadron, equipped with the same aircraft. His squadron was responsible for giving ground support to a Gurkha regiment, so he ordered his pilots to have their heads shaved in the Gurkha fashion, which proved to be a very popular move. On 19 February 1945 he shot down a Nakajima Ki 43 Oscar, his twenty-eighth and last victory. He died on 30th May 1989.

Click here for artwork signed by this Ace!

James Harry "Ginger" Lacey

Squadrons for : James Harry Ginger Lacey
A list of all squadrons known to have been served with by James Harry Ginger Lacey. A profile page is available by clicking the squadron name.
SquadronInfo

No.155 Sqn RAF


Country : UK
Founded : 14th September 1918
Fate : Disbanded 3rd June 1959

Eternal vigilance

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No.155 Sqn RAF

Full profile not yet available.

No.17 Sqn RAF


Country : UK
Founded : 1st February 1915

Excellere contende - Strive to excel

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No.17 Sqn RAF

Full profile not yet available.

No.501 Sqn RAF


Country : UK
Founded : 14th June 1929
Fate : Disbanded 10th March 1957
County of Gloucester, City of Bristol (Auxiliary)

Nil time - Fear nothing

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No.501 Sqn RAF

Full profile not yet available.

No.602 Sqn RAF


Country : UK
Founded : 12th September 1925
Fate : Disbanded 10th March 1957
City of Glasgow (Auxiliary)

Cave leonem cruciatum - Beware the tormented lion

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No.602 Sqn RAF

We have been informed by pilot Ian Blair about one of the aircraft of this squadron : The Spitfire MkVII had the Squadron markings of 312 Sqdn (DU-G) but the aircraft was on the strength of 602 Sqn. and was inherited by 602 Sqn from the Station Flight at Skae Bray, after 312 Sqn had left the area. The time span did not permit the ground personnel sufficient time to paint new letters on the aircraft. This fact has led to the incorrect assumption that I, the pilot of the aircraft, was a member of 312 Sqn.
Aircraft for : James Harry Ginger Lacey
A list of all aircraft associated with James Harry Ginger Lacey. A profile page including a list of all art prints for the aircraft is available by clicking the aircraft name.
SquadronInfo

Hurricane




Click the name above to see prints featuring Hurricane aircraft.

Manufacturer : Hawker
Production Began : 1936
Number Built : 14533

Hurricane

Royal Air Force Fighter, the Hawker Hurricane had a top speed of 320mph, at 18,200 feet and 340mph at 17,500, ceiling of 34,200 and a range of 935 miles. The Hurricane was armed with eight fixed wing mounted .303 browning machine guns in the Mark I and twelve .303 browning's in the MKIIB in the Hurricane MKIIC it had four 20mm cannon. All time classic fighter the Hurricane was designed in 1933-1934, the first prototype flew in June 1936 and a contract for 600 for the Royal Air Force was placed. The first production model flew ion the 12th October 1937 and 111 squadron of the Royal Air Force received the first Hurricanes in January 1938. By the outbreak of World war two the Royal Air Force had 18 operational squadrons of Hurricanes. During the Battle of Britain a total of 1715 Hurricanes took part, (which was more than the rest of the aircraft of the Royal air force put together) and almost 75% of the Victories during the Battle of Britain went to hurricane pilots. The Hawker Hurricane was used in all theatres during World war two, and in many roles. in total 14,533 Hurricanes were built.

Spitfire




Click the name above to see prints featuring Spitfire aircraft.

Manufacturer : Supermarine
Production Began : 1936
Retired : 1948
Number Built : 20351

Spitfire

Royal Air Force fighter aircraft, maximum speed for mark I Supermarine Spitfire, 362mph up to The Seafire 47 with a top speed of 452mph. maximum ceiling for Mk I 34,000feet up to 44,500 for the mark XIV. Maximum range for MK I 575 miles . up to 1475 miles for the Seafire 47. Armament for the various Marks of Spitfire. for MK I, and II . eight fixed .303 browning Machine guns, for MKs V-IX and XVI two 20mm Hispano cannons and four .303 browning machine guns. and on later Marks, six to eight Rockets under the wings or a maximum bomb load of 1,000 lbs. Designed by R J Mitchell, The proto type Spitfire first flew on the 5th March 1936. and entered service with the Royal Air Force in August 1938, with 19 squadron based and RAF Duxford. by the outbreak of World war two, there were twelve squadrons with a total of 187 spitfires, with another 83 in store. Between 1939 and 1945, a large variety of modifications and developments produced a variety of MK,s from I to XVI. The mark II came into service in late 1940, and in March 1941, the Mk,V came into service. To counter the Improvements in fighters of the Luftwaffe especially the FW190, the MK,XII was introduced with its Griffin engine. The Fleet Air Arm used the Mk,I and II and were named Seafires. By the end of production in 1948 a total of 20,351 spitfires had been made and 2408 Seafires. The most produced variant was the Spitfire Mark V, with a total of 6479 spitfires produced. The Royal Air Force kept Spitfires in front line use until April 1954.

Thunderbolt




Click the name above to see prints featuring Thunderbolt aircraft.

Production Began : 1943
Number Built : 15683

Thunderbolt

Alexander Kartveli was a engineer with Seversky Aircraft who designed the P-35, which first flew in 1937. With Republic Aviation Kartveli supervised the development of the P-43 Lancer. Neither of these aircraft were produced in large numbers, and neither was quite successful. However, the Republic Aviation P-47 Thunderbolt, also nicknamed the Jug, was quite a different story. The Jug was the jewel in Kartvelis design crown, and went on to become one of the most produced fighter aircraft of all time with 15,683 being manufactured. The P-47 was the largest and heaviest single seat fighter of WW II. The P-47 immediately demonstrated its excellent combat qualities, including speed, rate of climb, maneuverability, heavy fire power, and the ability to take a lot of punishment. With a wingspan of more than 40 feet and a weight of 19,400 pounds, this large aircraft was designed around the powerful 2000 HP Pratt and Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp radial engine. The first P-47 prototype flew in May of 1941, and the primary variant the P-47D went into service in 1943 with units of the U.S. Armys Eighth Air Force. The Jug had a maximum speed in excess of 400 MPH, a service ceiling in excess of 42,000 feet, and was heavily armed with either six or eight heavy caliber machine guns. With its ability to carry up to a 2,500 pound bomb load, the Jug saw lots of use in ground attack roles. Until the introduction of the N model, the P-47 lacked the long range required for fighter escort missions which were most often relegated to P-51 Mustangs or P-38 Lightnings. In his outstanding painting entitled Bridge Busting Jugs, noted aviation artist Stan Stokes depicts Eighth Air Force Jugs in a ground attack mission in the Alps in June of 1944. The top P-47 ace was Francis Gabreski who had flown with the 56th Fighter Group, the first unit to be equipped with the P-47. In August of 1943 Gabreski attained his first aerial combat victory (over an Fw-190) and by years end he had reached ace status with 8 confirmed victories. As Commander of the 61st Squadron, Gabreski continued to chalk up victory after victory, and on seven different occasions he achieved two victories during the same mission. However, in July of 1944 Gabreski damaged the prop on his Jug during a low level attack on an airfield near Coblenz. Forced to make a crash landing, he was captured and remained a prisoner of war until Wars end in 1945. Following the War Gabreski returned to military service with the Air Forces 4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing in Korea. Flying the F-86 Sabre Jet, Gabreski attained 6.5 more aerial victories in 1951 and 1952 becoming an ace in two different wars

No victories listed for this ace

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